The Ring
by Charles Xavier
Summary: Yuffentine Semisequel to 'If I Could Be You For A Day'. Yuffie finds a strange video tape and learns a disturbing history about Lucrecia.
1. The Death Of Godo

Author's Note: This story really takes place between 'If I Could Be You For A Day'. So I wouldn't call this a direct sequel.

This is NOT inspired by the American film 'The Ring'. This follows more of the Japanese film 'Ring', its sequel ('Ring 2', duh) and its prequel ('Ring 0: Birthday', my personal favorite).

…

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

…

_It is said that when the video is played, the phone begins to ring…a voice tells the viewer that he will die in exactly seven days…and when the time comes…the woman with long hair will appear…_

Godo had never heard such crap before as this. There he was, sitting on his lazy butt watching the television in his room…and he was still alive and kicking. It was night time and it had been precisely a week since he watched that boring tape which made no sense at all. He was beginning to believe it was all a dumb hoax made up by some no good teenagers. But speaking too soon about things is never a good idea…

Sure, he never believed that his daughter would marry that eccentric man named Vincent Valentine…and she did. And what a surprise it gave to him. He almost fainted when he heard that Yuffie had fallen in love with someone so different to herself. It just wasn't normal in the Kisaragi family line. But hell, he wasn't Yuffie's matchmaker and he only wanted her to be happy…and that was how she always felt with Vincent. Now they were living together just a house away…as the next rulers of Wutai whenever Godo would pass on.

…

"HO! HO!" Godo was entertaining himself with some good old sitcoms. They always managed to make him crack up every time. "Uh-oh! Watch out for that...BWA! HA! HAA!...HUH!" Oh dear. It seemed that the program Godo was watching went to a sudden stop when something else came onto the screen. The grumpy man picked up his remote and tried flicking onto the next channel…but the picture on the screen did not change. He saw the same stone well resting peacefully in the middle of an unknown forest…not a sound could be heard…not even the shuffling of the autumn leaves or the chirping of a bird…

_Isn't this the well I saw from that freaky tape? What the hell is going on?_

Godo tried switching off the TV…it didn't work…he tried to press the buttons on the set…still nothing worked. He even disconnected the main TV plug from its socket…nothing. Whatever attempt Godo made, nothing made the image on the screen go away…and it didn't take long for him to notice a pale hand stretching out from the well and grasping its fingers onto the edge…somebody was coming out of the well…

_I don't remember this part…_

Her long strands of black hair made Godo unable to clearly see the woman's face rising out from the well. But his body for some reason…started trembling. The woman crawled out from her hell hole like an arachnid creature and dropped to the floor sloppily in her white silky gown…and slowly she raised her head at Godo and got up onto her two bare feet.

She began to approach him.

Godo felt his heart beat its fastest as he hesitantly recoiled back to the corner of his room, his eyes still glued the tall figure on the TV. He thought back to the numerous people who talked about that tape…he now realized he shouldn't have watched it…because now, the woman's arms were reaching out from the screen itself. And quietly…she slithered through the glass in a matter of seconds, landing with a loud thump into Godo's bedroom.

Godo waved his arm at the woman, trying to shoo her away. "Please…stay away from me…GET AWAY!" He panted. But the woman gave no response and simply stood up. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" She rolled her eyes onto Godo …and stared at him in the most disturbing manner… "AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

…

Yuffie rose from her bed, gasping for air.

"Yuffie, what's the matter?" Vincent opened his tired eyes, switching on the bedside lamp to see what was bothering his new wife. He heard the rain pour heavily from outside the house and Yuffie looked very upset about something. Vincent smiled and brought her into his arms. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"I just…have this feeling that something terrible has happened…" Yuffie whispered. "Did you feel anything?"

"No…" Vincent hugged her tightly, giving a soft kiss on her warm cheek. "I'm sure nothing's wrong, dear…go back to sleep."

The couple settled back down to bed. Vincent switched off the lamp and fell asleep almost immediately…but Yuffie, on the other hand, gave a sigh and looked down at her swollen belly…

_Oh, gawd! Have I gained weight again!_

No…she remembered now…she was pregnant…and ever since she had been carrying Vincent's baby, the weak girl hadn't been able to do very much around Wutai. She couldn't run, muck about or even be up to her mischievous tricks like usual…and those were things she seriously had to grow out of…yet there was something else bothering her mind also…

"Vinnie?"

"Yes, Yuffie?" Vincent turned around to face her.

"There's something I need to tell you…since we first…you know…slept together for the first time just after that day we…"

"Yuffie, please. Can we talk about this in the morning?" Vincent moaned.

"Honey, please! I'm serious…I think it's time you knew about this." Yuffie looked at him sternly. "Ever since that night, I've always been having this strange dream…I dream that I'm wandering alone in an abandoned house…where I can't see anyone or anything…I walk around the empty place…until I discover a staircase…and I go up them…despite of all the voices that warn me not to go up there…and when I arrive at the top, I look outside from the nearest window and see a well behind some trees…and I hear a voice calling out…it calls out for help…and then…"

The ninja suddenly stopped when she looked at her husband, who had his eyes gaping open at her. It looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Yuffie…I've been having that same dream too…"

…

Author's Note: Okay, I'm REALLY jet-legged right now. I'm in my country house in France and it's pretty late at night. I don't have anything important to say right now but I sure hope I don't abandon this fic…like I sometimes do. (Yawns) Bonne nuit!...sheesh…did I just speak French there? Oh gawd…


	2. Aftershock

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

"Morning!"

Yuffie quietly entered the dark room…and gracious was it a mess. Much of the furniture had been kicked or moved from their places, a few of the light bulbs on the walls were shattered with the glass shards scattered on the floor, and most peculiar, the only light emitting inside the room was the TV, which for some strange reason was left on. But in the opposite corner of the room where Yuffie stood, there lied an undisturbed body…its head covered in a thin black sheet. It was obvious for the ninja to recognize who it was. For there was only man she knew who'd be slouching around like this.

"Oh, gawd! Dad, you always drink too much sake!" Yuffie shook her head in disgust and walked across the pig sty area in order to switch off the TV.

_It looks as if there'd been a fight or something in here…and I'm the one who always to clean up the place…sheesh…_

"C'mon, dad! Yoo-who!" She clapped her hands at Godo, bending down at him with a smiley grin. "Rise and shine, pops! It's a nice day today!...Hey, wake up, lazy bones!" Godo wasn't moving at all, even when Yuffie gave his father a serious kick in the part between the legs.

_Wow…he's good…he almost looks dead…_

Yuffie always heard her father snore whenever he was asleep, yet now nothing was coming out from the silent man. This was probably the first time he'd ever slept peacefully.

"OOOH!!!! You're so difficult sometimes!" Yuffie snorted and turned around. "Why…I'd say you're worse than Vinnie! In fact, you're the most helpless man when it comes to cleaning up the house!"

Godo gave no answer.

"Hmph! Guess I'll have to open the curtains for you, then!" She did so…and the brightness of the morning sun shone through the windows. Godo was still not awake…and this made his daughter get very hot-headed. "GET UP NOW BEFORE I DRAG YOU HERE AND TOSS YOU OUT THE WINDOW!"

Silence.

_Say…what's that sheet doing on his head? Never seen that thing lying around my dad's house._

She approached her father again and knelt down. Touching him by the shoulder, Yuffie felt it ice cold. This made her shiver a little. But even worse, when she undid the top part of his kimono to see if her father was feeling well, she found his skin pale blue.

_Oh my gawd…what happened to you?_

He was cold all over…she felt it when she touched her hard and frozen skin. His blood had stopped running through his body and Yuffie could feel no heartbeat when she placed her ear onto his chest. At that second Yuffie began to feel a strange sickness inside her stomach…it wasn't the usual sickness she had from having the baby…no…but it was something else…fear. Something was definitely not right about Godo…and Yuffie almost had a clear idea what it was…

_Oh…no…dad?_

Tears ran down her cheeks as she reached her shaking hand for the sheet covering her father's head. Something was telling her not to unveil the mystery behind the sheet…but Yuffie was determined to see her father's face…alive or dead.

_Dad?_

Gripping the end of the sheet tightly, she pulled it down to reveal the grim face of Lord Godo…

Vincent heard a scream from next door. It was scream that made him sense that something was wrong.

_Yuffie__!_

He quickly slipped on a pair of black pants and scrambled out from his bathroom and out of the house bare feet. He rushed into Godo's house, running through the corridors and shouting out her wife's name over and over again.

"Yuffie! Where are you?!" Vincent tried to detect where Yuffie's constant screaming was coming from. She sounded like as if she was already going into labor…but his belief was soon going to prove wrong… "Yuffie!"

Vincent found her crying and screaming outside Godo's open room, all crouched up with her face buried between her legs.

"What happened?" Vincent took her by the arms firmly. Yuffie pointed her finger into Godo's room.

"He's…he's…daddy is…" Yuffie wasn't able to speak clearly because her dry throat after all the sobbing and shrieking she had made. "Vinnie…he's…"

Vincent looked at the open door and walked inside to find Godo sitting in the corner…his head raised high, his skin drained from its color, his jaw gaping wide open and his eyes staring up into emptiness…it was a disturbing site…and it made Vincent cover his mouth and look away from the poor man…

_Who did this to him?_

He felt like throwing up. He turned his face round to the blank TV screen to see only his own reflection…and a white dressed woman standing right behind him, looking down at his masculine body.

_Lucrecia__?!_

Vincent spun round to face only Godo's dead body once again. He heard Yuffie crying even louder as Gorki, Checkov, Shake and Staniv came into the house to find her in her horrible state of discomfort.

"Miss Yuffie, what's wrong?" They all asked.


	3. Flash From The Past

**_The Ring_**

****

**_By Charles Xavier_**

_"Correct…correct…correct."_

_Vincent opened his eyes to find himself standing at the center of a small auditorium where a various number of people were seated around him, watching something being performed on the stage. All the light switches were focused on a young girl sitting quietly on the stage behind a table. Beside them were two stern looking men._

_"What is this?" Vincent looked at the people on the stage. One of the stern men hid back a piece of paper in his hand with a black Japanese word that was drawn on the other side of it. Vincent was able to see part of it as the light shone through the white sheet. Meanwhile, the girl by the table was writing something on another sheet of paper with her pen. And after finishing her work, she handed it over to the other stern man…who looked at the word she had written on her sheet and then looked at the one his friend held. Both sheets were displayed to the audience._

_They were completely identical. "Correct."_

_Mumbles and whispers went through the audience as more and more Japanese words were presented with exactly the same word and handwriting. The girl was very gifted somehow, Vincent was most impressed by how she was handling. But Vincent also felt like a ghost…nobody seemed to have noticed him as the only man standing in the room. Though soon he wasn't going to be the only one…_

_"It's a trick!" A man suddenly stood up, pointing his finger at the girl. All eyes stared at him. "It's a trick I tell you! It's all some sick joke!" Everyone else began to rise from their seats._

_"Sir, may I please ask you to settle back down to your seat." The announcer said._

_"That girl's a nothing!" The man refused to stop his yelling. The other people joined in with him and began swearing and cursing at the girl, who was just terrified by what she saw. She blocked her ears with tears running down her eyes. She tried not to listen to what was being said. "GET THAT BITCH OFF THE STAGE!"_

_The shouting simply didn't stop. The angry mob climbed onto the stage and pushed the stern men away. The girl at that instant screamed when the man who had started this fight was yelling even more at her. And that's when it happened…_

_"AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"___

_"UGGGHHHH………"_

_He collapsed to the ground. People gathered round him and discovered that he was already dead. His eyes were still open and his jaw was locked tight in its open position. And worst of all, his heart was beating no more…_

_Everyone looked confusingly at the girl. She shook her head to say she had no idea what she did to the poor man. Obviously no one believed her. They didn't know how she did it, but they knew she did it._

_"WITCH!!!!"___

_"MURDERER!!!!"___

_"FREAK!!!!"___

_"NO! NO! STOP YELLING AT ME! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! PLEASE!" The girl rushed through the back door crying as she ran away._

_Vincent saw everything._

Lightning struck…it startled Vincent who blinked his eyes quickly…he was in another place…

_Where am I now?_

In front of him was the gravestone of Lord Godo Kisaragi. Black clouds covered the sky and rain poured down heavily at the mourners standing round the buried body. And holding Vincent tightly round his waist was Yuffie…who was unable to control her tears from the unbelievable death of her father. The priest began saying some prayers from his miniature book and all were dressed in traditional Wutainese gowns…even Vincent…

He was at a funeral.


	4. The Tape

Author's Note: Okay. I guess the last chapter REALLY confused a lot of you readers. So I'll just explain what happened…during Godo's funeral, Vincent fell into a sudden trance and witnessed a vision from the past which will later be important to the story twist. And who's past was it? Well…you'll have to see! 

But honestly, it might be a LOT easier if you've actually watched the 'Ring' movies, but then again they might give too much away for this fic…ah, do what you want.

I'm having my exams pretty soon, so sorry if you feel I rushed too much on this chapter.

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

Yuffie felt uncomfortable when returning to her father's haunted room that early evening. It had been left untouched since he died a week ago and no one had dared to walk into his house after that horrible day. It was still a mess. The young ninja had some difficulty walking round the place. It was almost like a pig-sty.

_Why am I doing this?_

She had no idea why she was wondering round this abandoned house. The cold gusts of wind blew inside and it made Yuffie feel as if she was in a cold and gloomy graveyard. For a moment she felt alone…so alone that on second thought she would have considered coming here accompanied. But who in the name of the Gods would volunteer? Yuffie's servants would have just chickened out by the first minute they stepped in here…but there was still Vincent…he was probably the only brave man to…

"HUH!"

A loud crash was heard outside the room. It made Yuffie jump. "Who's there?" No answer. Silence filled the atmosphere…but she still felt that something or maybe someone was inside with her. She suddenly heard the wooden floor creak loudly outside in the corridor.

_Oh, gawd…I knew I should have brought my Vincent with me!_

Yuffie's legs were shaking uncontrollably as she stood where she was, too shocked to take any fast action, because the noise didn't stop…it grew louder…louder…and louder. It was coming her way. Yuffie shut her eyes tight, hoping that whatever was here would simply go away. But that helped nothing. This was for real.

_Please let it go away…please let it go away…please let it go away…_

Everything fell quiet once again.

Opening her eyes, Yuffie discovered that something was now different about the room…no, everything was still a mess…but there seemed to be a man in a black robe standing opposite Yuffie. His face was conceived by a black sheet…the same one that Godo wore when he was found dead.

"Dad?" Yuffie croaked in fear. Was it his ghost?

The man made no sound. He raised his skinny arm slowly and pointed his pale finger to the TV set beside him like the Grim Reaper choosing his death victim. Yuffie rolled her eyes to the TV and saw a small video tape sitting on top of the set.

She never recalled seeing that tape lying there a minute ago.

"What the…?" And when she turned back to her mysterious visitor…he was already gone…only in one second when Yuffie had turned her sight away from him, he had disappeared. "Okay…get a grip on yourself, Yuffs…you're hallucinating…" She took deep breaths and tried to calm her nerves down.

But the tape was still there on the TV.

The high voices of the wind told Yuffie to take the black object with her…for she was desperate to find out what could have killed her father…and perhaps this would lead her to the answer…

She took it and left.


	5. Something Wrong

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

Yuffie hadn't old Vincent about what she had found. And there they were, sitting on the terrace having their lunch under the summer sky. Vincent said nothing to his wife as he knew how difficult it was for her to get over her father's death. There was absolutely nothing in this world that could have done something like that to him, it almost makes Sephiroth look like a water pistol.

"Vincent." Yuffie whispered, sipping her glass of ice tea. "I went back to Godo's house yesterday." Vincent looked at her and raised his brow.

"Did you find anything?" He asked.

"Yes, I did actually." His wife slipped her hands into her red flower dress and waved out an unlabeled tape. "I found this in his room. I don't why it was lying around there. I didn't even notice it until I went back."

"Was there anybody with you?"

Yuffie couldn't answer that question. There _was _somebody with her that time. But breaking it to Vincent wasn't going to be easy. By the second she'd mention her father being there he'd think she'd gone crazy. He wouldn't believe it for fifty thousand gil.

"Well…no." The young queen twiddled with her thumbs, looking unsure. "I was alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes...but that's not the point. I have a feeling this tape might have something to do with my father's death." The red glaring man didn't look too surprised at her belief. "Listen, I know it sounds really absurd. But this tape might help us find out who killed him."

Vincent wasn't sure about things. Why would a tape be left untouched in Godo's room after he had died? It didn't make any sense to him…no sense at all… "Do you really think this'll help?"

"I'm positive. There's something in me that's telling me to watch this tape. I need to find out what happened to him! And I know...Vinnie?" She saw her husband looking strangely at something. "Hun, are you okay?" He didn't respond. His eyes were glued to the tape in her hands again.

Giggling…laughing…cackling. Vincent heard it all as he gazed deeper at the tape. For other than film, something else was lurking in it…something sinister…something abnormal…but Yuffie couldn't see anything. She was far more worried about him not paying attention to her. He looked like he'd been cast under some evil spell.

_I'll kill her, Vincent…her and your baby…hee, hee, hee! I'll kill them both! I'll do it!_

Who was that? That voice sounded familiar. So familiar it had to belong to nobody else except…Lucrecia?...No, it sounded like her…but it wasn't her. It just couldn't be her because it wasn't like her. The voice repeated the same line over and over again. It was nearly driving Vincent to insanity, until…

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! DON'T WATCH IT!" He rose from his chair and slapped the tape out of Yuffie's hands, which landed hardly onto the wooden floor unbroken. Yuffie was terrified by his sudden temper that had spawned from out of the blue. He's never acted like this before. What was happening to him?

"Vinnie…what's wrong?" Yuffie muttered.

"I…" He panted, looking at her and trying to come back to his senses. "I…I'm sorry." He calmed himself down and sat back down onto his seat. "I don't know what came over when you showed me that tape. Please forgive me." Yuffie smiled and got up. She went behind him and started massaging his shoulders slowly while giving him a kiss on the back of his neck.

"Maybe you've been under the sun for too long, dear. Why don't you take a rest?"

Author's Note: Too quick? I oughtta slap myself. Curse school exams! GAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!


	6. Seven Days

Author's Note: Wowzas. I didn't realize how long I've been absent form this series. Since this fic's becoming really strange, I'll recap the story again.

Chapt. 1: Godo is killed by a mysterious ghost.

Chapt. 2: Yuffie finds her father dead.

Chapt. 3: Vincent has a strange flashback during Godo's funeral.

Chapt. 4: Yuffie finds a tape in Godo's house.

Chapt. 5: Yuffie shows the tape Vincent, who suddenly slips his lip and tells her not to watch it.

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

"Yuffie." Vincent reached his arm out across the bed for his wife. But the only thing he grasped in his cold hand was thin air. Immediately, he lifted open his weary eyes to find nobody beside him. Yuffie was nowhere to be seen. "Yuffie?" He rose up from his bed and looked around his dark bedroom.

_Where could she be?_

Everything looked normal to Vincent…except maybe the door, which had been left wide open for some reason. Yuffie must have left the room for sure. But the reason didn't seem quite obvious. She had never snuck away like this from Vincent before. And even at times when she tried to, she had never succeeded. His ears were far more sensitive than hers. This made Vincent believe something was up with the young Queen of Wutai. He lifted up his blankets and marched outside his room.

"Yuffie, where are you?" He stuck his head out of the door to stare into the empty corridor. Strangely, there happened to be some kind of blue light emitting from the living room, which wasn't too far from where Vincent was standing. Was it possible that Yuffie was watching the television at this time of the night?

And if so, why?

Vincent didn't know anything. But he was determined to investigate what was going on. So after making himself prepared, he quietly entered into the living room, unafraid for whatever was in store for him…

_What's this…?!_

His face began to pale right down to his neck, when he saw Yuffie sitting on the floor, gazing right into the TV screen in front of her like a brainwashed zombie. Vincent set his eyes upon the screen as well…and at the first second he watched a young girl in a white dress walking in the forest, and looking down a white stony well out of curiosity. The next second he saw a man creeping up behind the girl, holding a large wooden stick behind his back. And during the third second, he gasped when the man whacked the girl on the head hard and threw her frantically down into the well.

_No…not this again!_

Vincent knew what he was seeing. It was the same thing from his dream…for this was what he saw when he looked out from the window. He remembered everything that happened when he was really there. He wondered how much longer he would be able to keep this secret away from his wife, for he knew exactly what was happening before his eyes. And the nightmare would never stop haunting him. Looking away from the TV helped nothing either. Some unknown force made him witness everything shown. He had to even watch the man seal the well with a large boulder rock, trapping his crying victim inside her eternal prison.

The scene on the screen then jumped to a large eye looking back at Yuffie and Vincent in a rather hypnotic way. Vincent saw that the eye's pupil was a small white ring, glowing brightly. Cries of the girl in the well rushed through his head. And soon it was mixed with voices that sang with a melodic sound yet with a sinister feeling. It almost sounded like a witch's chant to cast people into an unspeakable spell.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vincent finally snapped back to himself when he saw what the eye was doing to Yuffie. He dashed up to her and covered her eyes away from the TV and held her firmly against his body. "CLOSE YOUR EYES!!!!!! DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!!!!" He yelled angrily at her.

At that moment the eye vanished, the TV miraculously switched itself off, leaving the couple alone in the darkness. Vincent looked at the video machine sitting on top of the set and saw it automatically eject a tape out of its mouth.

It was the tape that Yuffie had found at Godo's house.

"Oh, God…" Vincent shivered in fear as he turned his head at Yuffie, who looked innocently back at his traumatized eyes. "Yuffie…what have you done?! Why did you watch that tape?!" He took her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. "WHY DID YOU WATCH IT?!"

"I'm sorry, Vinnie…" Was her meek reply. "There wasn't anything I could do…" Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she hugged Vincent for warmth and protection. "I'm sorry…I couldn't help it…she made me watch the tape…"

"WHO?!" Vincent raised her chin. "Tell me who did this to you!"

"Lucrecia…Lucrecia told me to watch the tape…"

Just then, the phone inside the living room started ringing. The two of them looked across to it in certain doubt. Though nevertheless, Vincent was still willing enough to approach it and answer the caller.

"Hello?" He said calmly. But there was reply…only a high pitched ringing noise. "HELLO?!" 

Nobody…only the noise. 

Yuffie covered her mouth in shear terror while she heard her husband yelling constantly over the phone, demanding somebody to reply him. She ran away into the shadows of the corridor and burst out crying…

She was afraid…very afraid….

_Seven days…seven days…_

Author's Note: Yes, I know this story's getting weirder and weirder (and maybe too short). But this is all part of the twist of 'The Ring', and it'll all be explained better (I hope) in the future chapters. 

Oh, and just for those who're interested, I recently watched that movie 'Battle Royale'…0_0…and holy cow was that freaky! Now I see why America decided to ban it (and I don't blame them). I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight…sheesh…that was one INTENSE film. I wouldn't recommend this film to those who have weak stomachs…I wonder what the sequel is like though…I gotta watch that!


	7. Secrets

Author's Note: My apologies for the VERY long wait.

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

"How long has it been, Vincent Valentine?"

"…"

"Huh, there you are again…" Yuffie shifted her position on the bed, dressed up in her white night gown. "…silent for two days running now. And you haven't said a damn word to me since that night." She watched her husband walk past her weak body, gluing her eyes wherever he went. It all just made Yuffie made go into a VERY bad temper. "You're scaring me, you know that? And I'm scared too about that freakin' tape!"

Vincent took a small glass of cold sake from the bedside table and gulped it all down in one go, before settling down next to her on a chair.

"What's the matter with you?" Yuffie raised her voice. "Have you gone deaf or something? Can't you see your own wife is lying in bed here with your unborn child? I can't even run around like some sugar obsessed manic like I used to!"

"…"

The pregnant Empress of Wutai saw that her yelling was getting nowhere out of this problem. She saw how Vincent had been devastated after he discovered that she watched that tape. It looked like he had already lost her, just like the way he lost Lucrecia…Yuffie couldn't help but sigh. "Honey…I know you're upset about me and I know that you think I'll die, but you have to tell me something."

Vincent put down his drink and glanced at her.

"What is this all about?" She asked meekly. "Who were those people on that tape? What are these dreams that we're having mean? And how come you've never told me any of this to me, dear?"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that, please say something. Can't you see I want to know this badly?" Yuffie pleaded. "Please…please tell me what's going on…just tell it all to me."

Vincent eyes didn't shift at all during his long stare at her. "…You want to know…? Fine, I'll tell you…" He sat back and moved his eyes to the ceiling.

"Thirty two years ago, I was a Turk working for the Shinra Corps…when I met a young…dazzling girl named Lucrecia. She was lovely, shy, yet…seemed depressed in her life. Many of the people working in the Shinra considered her unusual, and somehow strange. I saw that she needed a man, a man who could take care of her and protect her. And I myself had a secret crush on her, which was an insult to my position."

"You see, Turks weren't supposed to show any form of emotions to anyone. We were cold heartless people who'd only commit the jobs they were asked to do. But even so, nothing stopped me from loving that girl…even when I found about her strange abilities."

"Strange abilities?"

"Lucrecia was a very gifted girl, Yuffie. She had psychic powers that seemed amazing, but others were plain deadly, and that lead to her making accidents…especially accidents that caused people to die so suddenly."

"What do you mean?"

"Lucrecia had the power to will people dead whenever she felt threatened or hurt…people soon began to dislike her as the number of mysterious deaths around the Shinra Corps began to increase. They all accused her of being a witch and a freak in nature…but that's not how I saw her. To me, she was very much the opposite at what everyone else said."

"Then later…Doctor Hojo came."

"He took away Lucrecia…and locked me up in a basement for thirty years…but during that time, Hojo did something to Lucrecia. Do you know what it was?"

Yuffie shook her head.

"Hojo didn't know about Lucrecia's abnormal self at first. But when he did and saw its effects, he grew scared…and somewhat insane. The fear grew and grew inside of him until he decided that Lucrecia had to go. So he one day, he lured Lucrecia into the forest…and to a stony well. And it was there when he threw her into the well and sealed it shut forever…just as you saw on that tape."

"The people who on that tape were Dr. Hojo and Lucrecia?"

"Yes."

"And that voice I hear is…"

"Lucrecia's voice, crying for help out of that damned well."

"But…how do you know so much about this?"

"I've dreamt these things far longer than you have, Yuffie. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell you or not, but now I know I have should told you right from when I met you…"

"Throughout the years I've slowly realized what it all meant. But when you showed me that tape, I felt the presence of Lucrecia inside of it…a grotesque, deformed and mutilated form of her. It is her spirit that has cursed that tape…and whoever watches it dies within seven days." Vincent at this point took no notice of Yuffie, who seemed to have drifted his attention away from him when she felt some sharp pain in her body. "Nothing can be done to stop it…I don't know what to do but…"

"Honey…" Vincent heard Yuffie panting rather heavily all of a sudden.

"What's the matter, Yuffie?"

Vincent rolled his eyes back at his wife, to find her sitting up from her bed, clutching her hand onto the organ between her legs so dearly.

"My water broke…the baby…"


	8. A Little Princess

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

"UUHHHNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!"

She felt another spasm in her body, while the nurses tried to settle her down back onto her bed.

"Steady, my Empress…just breathe deeply…in and out. That's the key."

Yuffie felt like she was in hell…pregnancy was definitely more painful as she had imagined. But it was good thing that Vincent was quick enough to carry her all the way to the Wutai hospital, especially on this dark night.

"How much…longer…do I have to…take this?!" Yuffie gritted her teeth. "THIS GOD DAMN SUCKS!!!!"

"Please, my Empress." The nurse said as she took out a white cloth to wipe Yuffie's sweaty forehead. "Anger won't help us get anywhere. You have to calm yourself down and just relax."

"How can I relax, when I feel nothing but…AAAAAAHHH!!!!" The spasms became worse by the minutes. Yuffie could feel the baby moving down her body, for it wasn't long now before it would finally come out and enter the world. "GAAAAAH!!!!"

A nurse knelt down between Yuffie's legs while the other nurses did all they could to ease things out for their empress.

"It's almost over, my Empress. Just keep this up a little bit longer…"

Vincent waited outside the room, his hands were shaking and the nervous soon-to-be-father couldn't quite sit still. And it didn't take long before he heard her wife's final scream…until at last it was silenced…when he heard crying…

_Gods._

A nurse came out from Yuffie's room and approached Vincent, who seemed to look more anxious now than a second ago.

"My Emperor…I am happy to inform you that your wife has given birth to a healthy little girl." She smiled at him. "Congratulations, my Emperor. You may see them now. So please follow me."

Vincent followed the nurse into the room to meet his wife and newly born baby, who was still crying. But with Yuffie's soft hushing, the young one eventually ceased her crying and fell into a long deep sleep.

"Hi, honey." Yuffie spoke in a mousy voice, trying to hold back her tears when she saw Vincent come in. "How are you doing?"

"Yuffie?" Vincent hesitated, looking down at the bundle of joy wrapped in a white silky blanket round Yuffie's arms. "A-are you okay now?"

"Yes." She replied simply. "I'm fine…would you like to see our new daughter?"

Vincent took out a chair from the corner of the room and sat down next to Yuffie, as she passed her baby into his arms. And when he felt the warmth of the baby…for once…Vincent couldn't stop himself from crying.

_Can't hold back._

"It's all right, honey." Yuffie said. "You can let it out…no one's watching. It's just you, me and our baby now."

Vincent's eyes shed tears as they looked at the short hazelnut hair that the baby had. The baby slightly opened her eyes at her happy father, and for a short while, the two stared at each other with the same colored eyes…life was wonderful…no doubt.

"Arigatou, Yuffie." He passed his baby to his wife. "Thank you for changing my life."

"Your welcome."

That was Yuffie's first time saying that to anyone. She hadn't even said that to her father ever in her life at all…but now she wished he was here to see this miraculous moment. And for once she was starting to learn how to be more grown-up…to be a mother.

Author's Note: And now…the horror begins. (Hee! Hee!)


	9. Unexpected News

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

"Vinnie?"

Vincent slowly crept into the room to visit his wife in bed. Yuffie was still resting up in hospital after she had given birth…the doctor had said that she should take a week at most in bed, before she'd be able walk around again.

"Morning, Yuffie." Vincent murmured to her as he gave a soft kiss on her cheek. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Shhh…" Yuffie slipped her finger onto Vincent's lips. "Don't wake Hikari up…she's still sleeping." Cradled in Yuffie's arms was her precious baby, sleeping silently in peace in her pink overall pajamas. Vincent couldn't help but touch his daughter's warm forehead with his cold fingers. "She sleeps just like a little angel, don't you think?"

Hikari gave a little moan when Vincent touched her. She shifted her position slightly but went back to her sleep.

"I can't believe it." Vincent said. "It's only been last night…and I'm already starting feel like I'm not…

"Not what?"

"…not as lonely as I was a year back." He finished.

Yuffie's cheeks blushed red. "Oh, Vinnie…you look so cute when you say cute things."

Vincent was suddenly reminded of what news he had to bring to Yuffie this morning…there was something important he had to come to tell her about, after all. And it was something to do with…

"Yuffie, I think you should have a look at this." Vincent slipped out the Wutainese Morning Newspaper, scrolled up in his pants pocket. "I'm afraid it concerns about something you'd probably don't want to hear about."

Yuffie took the newspaper with one of her hands and opened it up to read the main headlines.

"Gods…" Yuffie's eyes widened. "…the skeletal body of young girl was found beneath an abandoned well located in the forestry outskirts of Nibelheim. Four young kids had stumbled upon the well yesterday afternoon, and reported hearing strange noises from it. They had immediately reported the sighting at the nearest police station, and within an hour's time, the body was taken out of the well." The rest of the passage simply went on about people's comments and reactions about the scary situation.

Yuffie returned the newspaper to Vincent.

"Lucrecia…" Vincent nodded his head when she heard her say that name. "They found Lucrecia…trapped in that well for so many years. They finally found her."

A thought came up upon Yuffie's mind…

"Honey, do you what this means?" She said. "Lucrecia's been found, and she can finally rest in peace. And now I feel that I no longer need to fear of dying…don't you see?" Vincent didn't look very happy, however, despite Yuffie's happy and relieved face. "It's over, Vinnie. Lucrecia won't come to kill anybody now…"

Vincent obviously wasn't going for what his wife was saying…how could she just assume that things were already going back to normal? Everything about Lucrecia was sounding more confusing…or maybe too confusing; even though Lucrecia's body had been discovered, Vincent had expected that the strange dreams that his wife and himself had been having during the nights would go away. However, that wasn't clearly the case.

"Yuffie…can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How did you sleep last night…? Did you have that haunting dream of yours again?"

She shook her head.

"No…no, as a matter of fact, I didn't." Yuffie looked at Vincent's serious face, and it only made her look rather worrying. "What's the matter, Vinnie? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yuffie…I'm still having those dreams."

Author's Note: The horror will REALLY begin in the next (and possibly last) chapter. Don't miss it! ^^


	10. Rest in Peace, Lucrecia

**_The Ring_**

**_By Charles Xavier_**

Sleeping alone in the bedroom reminded Vincent of the long years he slept in darkness in the coffin back at the Shinra mansion. The doctor had said that Yuffie would be able to return home fairly soon, along with the baby. Meanwhile, things had been utterly dull around the house, not to mention a little scary. Vincent could still sense 'something' lurking around Wutai, and it didn't feel good. His mind was stuck to it as he tried his best to get some sleep during the late night.

"Why is it that I'm unable to sleep?" Vincent asked himself, even though he knew the answer. He was worrying about Yuffie; it had been exactly a week from this night since she watched that wretched tape. Vincent was very much fearing that his wife COULD be in danger at any moment…

"It is over." A mystical voice suddenly chilled the air around Vincent's bed, who sat up immediately with both eyes wide open. "It is over for her...it is time for her to die."

The hospital had been pretty quiet tonight. Hikari was already fast asleep in her arms, and all the lights in the hospital corridor had been turned out completely an hour ago. Yuffie didn't feel too sleepy herself, though. She didn't know why either, her mind wasn't in any deep thought, and all she wanted to do was shut her eyes and go off into dreamland. But somehow, she could feel that all wasn't quite as well as she thought.

"Sleep now, Hikari." Yuffie said when she heard her daughter moan in her sleep…just by looking at her sweet face, Yuffie wondered whatever she was dreaming about that made her feel so uncomfortable.

Though Yuffie was beginning to feel very uncomfortable herself, when the television set in front of her bed magically switched itself on. Yuffie, most astonished, reached for her remote and tried all she could to switch the television off…it only proved useless. At first white fuzzes appeared on the screen, but moments after that, the screen set itself an image upon a stony well in the middle of a dark forest…the whole picture made Yuffie pale in fear…for the well looked horrifically familiar to her. It was the same one from her dreams.

"No, it can't be."

It was. And Yuffie's heart began to beat quickly when she saw a white hand rise out from the well. A woman with black long hair showed herself, her face being completely concealed by her hair. She glued her dark site onto Yuffie's eyes and slowly left the well, approaching silently towards the television screen. Yuffie immediately sat up and backed away to the opposite end of her bed, holding Hikari tight with her.

As the ghostly woman reached as close as possible to the TV, she reached out her arms through the screen, and slipped her whole body through the glass. She landed right onto Yuffie's bed, and started crawling towards her.

Hikari, awakened by the noises, opened her eyes to catch her fist site upon Lucrecia closing in on her. And all she could do was cry…but Yuffie wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

Just as the woman was about to grip her nail torn fingers onto Yuffie's white gown, Yuffie swiftly dodged her hand and jumped out of the bed with a big leap successfully. The leap, unfortunately, left Yuffie to collapse down onto the floor…Yuffie knew that she was in no state do these kinds of dangerous stunts, but this was a matter between life and death. She looked down at Hikari, still crying in her arms, but she was luckily unharmed. And recovering as quickly as she could, she got onto her feet before her enemy did and fled the room.

"HELP ME!" Yuffie screamed down the deserted corridors. "SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE!"

No one was around to answer her calls. Yuffie tried not to look back to see Lucrecia come lurching slowly towards her like a mindless zombie, in her dirty white gown. As she chased Yuffie, her shoulder bones kept to moving out of their place, Lucrecia simply shifted them back into position as the sound of irresistible bone crunching echoed down the corridor. She would ultimately stop at nothing to kill Yuffie and the baby…nothing…

As Yuffie ran as fast as she could for dear life, she did her best to comfort Hikari at the same time. Her legs weren't as strong or fast as they normally were before, since Yuffie was still quite weak after her childbirth. And with the fact that she didn't have a Conformer or any kind of weapon with her right now, Yuffie only prayed that somebody could answer her cries for help.

But when she reached the end of the corridor, somebody was already there waiting for her.

"Vinnie?!" Yuffie cried out. Vincent slipped out his Death Penalty gun, cocked it, and pointed it towards his wife's forehead. "What…? What are you doing?!" Yuffie gave him a look of extreme fear. For a second she thought Vincent had lost his mind. But…

"Get down." Vincent yelled when he saw Lucrecia raising her arms to grab Yuffie from behind.

Yuffie ducked at once, avoiding Lucrecia altogether. Vincent pulled the trigger of his gun and fired directly into Lucrecia's forehead. The bullet shot past her hair, penetrated into her blue skin, ran though her brain and shot right out from the back of her skull.

"Ugh…" 

Lucrecia staggered around for a few seconds, tilting back her bleeding head, and finally collapsed to the ground.

Smoke puffed out from the barrel of Vincent's gun. And after witnessing what he had done, Vincent settled down his weapon and looked at his wife. "Yuffie, are you okay?" He asked.

Yuffie, on her knees, looked back and saw Lucrecia's body resting still on the floor…when all of a sudden, she saw the body slowly convert itself into dust, which blew itself away into the atmosphere and disappeared like the sands of the desert. No trace of Lucrecia could be seen anymore and Vincent too could see it.

She was gone.

"Yuffie…?" Vincent looked down at her, who was trying to hush down Hikari from the shock. "Yuffie are you okay." He saw tears run down her cheeks like before when she first gave birth to her daughter…but this time, he knew that she could be truly happy now.

"I'm fine, dear. Hikari is too." Yuffie softly replied, rocking her baby gently. Hikari stopped crying as the mother calmed her down, as she was soon back to sleep. "Sshh…it's okay, Hikari. Mommy's here. Go back to sleep now… there are no more nightmares…"

"There are no more nightmares." Vincent murmured, as he kneeled down to Yuffie and wrapped his arm around her to give her the comfort she needed. "Rest in peace, Lucrecia…rest in peace."

**_The End_**

Author's Note: Quite an abrupt ending, ne? Sorry about that, though. This story was taking too long for me to finish, and I just had to stop it sooner. But otherwise, please review and be nice about it…I seriously don't approve of flames.

Well, I'll still be writing plenty of fanfics, so I dunno…look out for another Yuffentine fic from me sooner or later (maybe at times when you least expect it). ^_^


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